Simon Yates' revenge at the Giro d'Italia

The Colle delle Finestre was once again decisive for the resolution of the Giro d'Italia and, as we had been predicting for several days, we saw a spectacular turnaround in the general classification led by Simon Yates' brave attack, practically sealing the Giro d'Italia 2025 in the same place where, in 2018, the pink jersey slipped away after a similar move by Chris Froome.

The Giro d'Italia gives Simon Yates the victory he couldn't achieve in 2018

Competitive sports in general and cycling in particular are not fair on many occasions. However, sometimes, very rarely, the stars align to give back to the cyclist what was once taken from them. To understand what happened in today's stage, we have to go back to 2018.

An edition of the Giro d'Italia in which Simon Yates, from the beginning of the race, showed immense power. He wore the pink jersey in a Giro d'Italia that seemed to be decided from start to finish. Until stage 19, very similar to what we enjoyed in the twentieth stage of this 2025 edition. The then Team Sky hardened the race to the limit and in the Colle delle Finestre, the offensive came from Chris Froome who first dislodged Simon Yates and then Tom Doumolin, who was the only one threatening the Briton's position.

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Today, seven years later, history repeated itself in the twentieth stage of the Giro d'Italia 2025, the last opportunity to try to dislodge Isaac del Toro who, despite facing his first grand tour, despite his youth, had been showing tremendous solidity with the only task for today of controlling Richard Carapaz, who was only 43 seconds behind in the general classification. The third contender, Simon Yates, seemed already out of the picture, barring a disaster, as he was 1 minute 21 seconds behind and after the sensations he showed in yesterday's stage where he couldn't keep up with his direct competitors.

A stage that once again exceeded 200 kilometers, a factor that has been decisive in creating differences throughout this Giro d'Italia. Despite this, on paper it was a relatively simple stage with a small fourth-category climb in the initial part, the ascent to Colle de Lys in the middle of the stage, and a classic and mythical link of cycling like Colle delle Finestre and Sestriete to determine the final outcome of this 2025 edition of the Giro d'Italia.

A stage of strong control between EF Education-EasyPost and UAE Team Emirates-XRG led to the formation of a large breakaway of 30 cyclists with familiar names in the escapes of this last week and a noteworthy detail. No UAE and no EF riders in the breakaway, but a rider of the caliber of Wout van Aert for Visma-Lease a Bike.

The peloton accumulated a 10-minute delay at the foot of the 18.5-kilometer climb to Colle delle Finestre, practically guaranteeing that both the stage victory and the Red Bull Km, located 4 kilometers from the summit, would not have relevance for the general classification. A terrifying climb, perhaps one of the toughest double-sided climbs in cycling with a constant gradient always above 9% and the final 8 kilometers where the asphalt disappears to make way for sterrato, a surface that, after what happened a couple of weeks ago in Siena, would be decisive for the resolution of the Giro d'Italia 2025.

The breakaway was selected from the early ramps, led by Mads Pedersen who did not hesitate to empty himself to launch his teammate Carlos Verona, although ultimately, almost the first to attack, Chris Harper and Alessandro Verre would be the ones disputing the stage victory.

But the interest was at the back. EF Education-EasyPost arrived at the foot of Colle delle Finestre, working hard, a job that continued on the early ramps until the American team used up their resources and Cepeda gave the final push for Richard Carapaz's attack.

Initially, Isaac del Toro hesitated between following his wheel or maintaining the integrity of his team. He chose the first option, easily reaching Carapaz who climbed with tremendous strength to open a gap of nearly 30 seconds with the remnants of the main group. Seeing this situation, Simon Yates decided to attack from behind and began to close the gap. The Ecuadorian received the news and eased off to let him catch up and open up possibilities.

A feast of small attacks began, alternating between Simon Yates and Richard Carapaz. All of them were small changes of pace that allowed Isaac del Toro to defend himself well, without showing the explosiveness of previous days but holding his ground. A back-and-forth that allowed Derek Gee, showing an impressive constant pace, to catch up. Precisely, the Israel-PremierTech rider was the disruptive element because, after a few moments in which the Australian set a tremendously intense pace, Simon Yates launched a winning attack. An acceleration from which neither Isaac del Toro nor Richard Carapaz could respond, whether the Mexican couldn't or chose to play a bluff.

Richard Carapaz then changed tactics, stopping to let the gap grow and make Del Toro nervous, but he was lucky that, with the return of Derek Gee, the gap was contained again. A lead that was already in virtual pink jersey margins in favor of Simon Yates, who began to caress victory in the Giro d'Italia 2025.

In the final part, Richard Carapaz had to drop his bluff. The Ecuadorian set a tremendous pace trying to break Isaac del Toro's resistance, who held on to his wheel with all his might. However, the damage was already done, and the Ecuadorian had emptied himself to the limit and had little reaction left. To make matters worse, after cresting with a 1 minute 37-second lead, Simon Yates caught up with Wout van Aert, who used all his class to deliver the final blow to the Giro d'Italia.

At the foot of Sestriere, the race was decided. Del Toro and Carapaz reproached each other while the gap grew and grew. The race was completely decided for Simon Yates, who managed to erase a bitter disappointment from his career in the same place where he now shines with a Vuelta and a Giro in all their glory. A stage that fell into the hands of a very solid Chris Harper, a tremendous victory overshadowed by the battle for the general classification. At the finish line, Richard Carapaz was visibly upset and made some very clear statements, "We could have been the strongest, but the smartest won. He lost the Giro."

Classification Stage 20

1. Chris Harper (Jayco-AlUla) 5h27’29’’
2. Alessandro Verre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +1’49’’
3. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1’57’’
4. Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal-QuickStep) +3’52’’
5. Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) +3’57’’
6. Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) +4’31’’
7. Carlos Verona (Lidl-Trek) +4’31’’
8. Max Poole (Picnic-PostNL) +6’45’’
9. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7’10’’
10. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +7’10’’

General Classification

1. Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) 79h18’42’’
2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +3’56’’
3. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +4’43’’
4. Derek Gee (Israel-PremierTech) +6’23’’
5. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) +7’32’’
6. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +9’28’’
7. Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +12’42’’
8. Einer Rubio (Movistar) +13’05’’
9. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 13’36’’
10. Michael Storer (Tudor) +14’27’’